How to run a home poker tournament from start to finish

Running a home tournament is mostly about decisions made before anyone arrives. Make them early, share them with the group, and the night runs itself.

A week before

• Confirm the date, the start time and the player count.
• Agree the buy-in, whether rebuys or add-ons are allowed, and until which level.
• Decide the blind structure and the finish time you are aiming for.
• Agree how many places are paid and the split, plus any bounty.
• Check you have enough chips for every starting stack plus rebuys, and at least two decks of cards.

Before the first hand

• Count out the starting stacks before players arrive, so nobody waits.
• Seat players at random. Draw cards for seats: highest card picks first, or deal one card to each seat for the button.
• Collect every buy-in before play starts and keep the prize pool in one place.
• Read out the rules once: blind levels, breaks, rebuys, payouts and bounties.

While the clock runs

• Start the clock when the first hand is dealt and do not stop it for late arrivals. A late player starts with a full stack and the blinds as they are.
• Put the blind level where the whole room can see it.
• Record each elimination with the player's finishing place and who knocked them out.
• Balance tables if you have more than one: move a player from the fullest table to the shortest one so no table gets more than one seat shorter than the others.
• Take a break every 90 minutes or so and colour up the smallest chips.

Finishing well

• If the last few players want to make a deal, it needs every remaining player to agree. Settle that rule before the night starts.
• Pay out in finishing order, in front of the table, and pay bounties as you go or at the end, as agreed.
• Write down the results. If you play regularly, a season leaderboard gives people a reason to come back next month.

Let the software carry the jobs

PokerPulse does the jobs a host otherwise holds in their head: the blind clock on a big screen, the player list with buy-ins and rebuys, eliminations in order, payouts, and leagues for a season of games. It runs in the browser and on iPhone, and it is free during the public beta.

Start with the blind structure guide or the payouts and bounties guide.